The present invention relates to a device designed to prevent the stagnation of water in the supply pipelines of medical equipment, and in particular, of dental surgery apparatus.
A possible source of contamination threatening each power driven instrument connected to a conventional dental surgery apparatus is represented by the water used in operation of the apparatus.
Whilst it is true that the domestic water supply, being potable, is not a carrier of micro-organisms in any significant quantity, it is equally true that there are conditions in which this same water is caused to linger and stagnate for considerable periods of time, both in the permanent pipework of the surgery's plumbing system and in the spray and replenishing circuits of the apparatus.
Stagnation, it is known, has the effect of raising the overall quantity of micro-organisms in water, even drinking water, to levels that can no longer be considered safe.
The microbiological content produced by stagnation poses no significant threat where drinking water is merely swallowed by a patient; in the particular instance of dental surgery, however, where water is supplied to surgical instruments and/or to power driven handpieces or other appliances associated with the apparatus, the micro-organisms generated by stagnation are inevitably brought into contact with exposed body tissue, with the result that infection can occur, occasioning prolonged healing time, inflammation, increased levels of pain post-treatment, and fever in more serious cases.
Certain remedies involve dispensing a disinfectant continuously into the water supply circuits, though with the consequent drawbacks that the construction of the apparatus is rendered more complex, and the properties of the liquid are affected.
The object of the invention is to provide a device that will prevent stagnation of water in the supply circuits of dental surgery apparatus, ultimately inhibiting the proliferation of micro-organisms, doing so without the use of additional substances; a further object of the invention is to enable a substantially instantaneous supply of warm water to those instruments which utilize feed and return flow in conjunction with a built-in on-off control, for example chip blowers.